The present invention relates to a semiconductor cooling apparatus, and, more particularly, a cooling apparatus that releases heat produced through operation of a semiconductor power device.
A cooling apparatus having inner fins arranged in a cooling tube is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-173372.
As shown in FIG. 9, the cooling apparatus of the aforementioned publication includes a pair of cooling tubes 110. Each cooling tube 110 is joined with a corresponding one of opposite surfaces of a modularized semiconductor power device 100 through an associated insulating material 101. The configuration of each cooling tube 110 is as follows. Specifically, the cooling tube 110 has a pair of outer plates 111 and a middle plate 112 arranged between the outer plates 111. The middle plate 112 is joined to the outer edges of the outer plates 111. The space defined by the outer plates 111 and the middle plate 112 is a cooling medium passage. An inner fin 113 is provided between each outer plate 111 and the middle plate 112. The cooling medium passage is divided into a plurality of lines by the inner fin 113.
The cooling tubes 110 and the modularized power device 100 are joined together through the insulating material 101. This makes it impossible to braze the cooling tubes 110 to the modularized power device 100. In other words, the cooling apparatus may be improved so as to facilitate the assembly of the components of the apparatus. Also, there is a demand for an improved cooling efficiency of the cooling tubes 110.